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Steven Paul Jobs

When I heard the news that Steve Jobs had died, my mind flashed back to 1985, when I began my love affair with computers. I was stationed in Moscow for The Associated Press and I ordered an Apple IIc — by Telex — from a department store in Helsinki, Finland. They express shipped it to me, a month later, by train.

The IIc was Apple’s first crack at a “portable” computer, which it sort of was if you didn’t mind a 7.5 pound weight, plus monitor, external floppy drive and all the cables. But it was sleek for its time, about the size of a loose leaf binder.

The K.G.B. officers at the Soviet customs desk at Leningrad Station were annoyed. “Where is the computer,” one asked. “Right here,” I said. He gave me that contemptuous look that border guards all seemed to have: “That is the keyboard. Show me the computer!”

Photo

Steve Jobs, left, John Sculley and Steve Wozniak unveil the new Apple IIc computer in San Francisco on April 24, 1984.Credit
Sal Veder/Associated Press

This went on while a clutch of guards conferred over what to charge me. The Soviet Union assessed customs fees on electronics based on size and weight, which seemed guaranteed to maximize their take. We had no clue how Mr. Jobs would change that, along with so many other conventions.

But visionaries like Mr. Jobs had no intention of settling for “at the time.” I’ve had a stream of computers — mostly Macs — since, each more incredible than the last. I have sometimes thought the power of computers had exceeded our ability to use them, but Mr. Jobs and his team kept giving us devices that made indispensable things easier in ways you never thought of.

Other computer makers know how machines work and want humans to alter their behavior accordingly. Mr. Jobs and his team labored to understand how humans behave and think and built machines to suit us.

I only met Mr. Jobs once, but like so many others, I carry a piece of him around. When I heard of his death, I thought how delicious it would have been to show those K.G.B. border guards my iPhone.

A version of this editorial appears in print on October 7, 2011, on Page A26 of the New York edition with the headline: Steven Paul Jobs. Today's Paper|Subscribe